Donating Your Body to Science

posted on 5/15/12 by MyWonderfulLife.com Staff

Every year, an estimated 20,000 people donate their bodies to science for the advancement of medical education or research. Choosing to donate your body can be a lot like choosing to be an organ donor. Your religion may have strict rules about how your body should be treated, so this may not be for you.

If you’re seriously thinking about body donation, take a look at these resources, and decide what program you think is right for you. Make sure you make your wishes known to your family, and research the programs you’re interested in so your family isn’t left to decide for you.

There are many interesting ways to donate your body. In the TED talk below, artist Jae Rhim Lee discusses the Decompiculture Society, a group of people that “share a vision of a cultural shift from our current culture of death denial and body preservation, to one of decompiculture, a radical acceptance of death and decomposition.” The movement, called the Infinity Burial Project, already has people lined up to be donors.